FLIA 22

BOOM!

Even though Lee Hyunmook had covered his ears, the deafening noise made Yohan’s entire body vibrate and ring. A thunderbolt of overwhelming force struck the giant tree monster, making Yohan’s heart feel like it had shrunk from the sheer intensity. It came down from the very top and pierced the tree straight through. In Lee Hyunmook’s eyes, Yohan could see the image of the stiffening, slowly splitting tree reflected.

Within those pitch-black eyes, a dark red gleam flickered. A mad, ecstatic light rippled in them. Only then did Yohan truly realize, despite all the purification from last time, the corruption inside Lee Hyunmook still lingered. The stronger he released his power, the more that corruption seemed to stir.

Terrified he might revert to that crazed state, Yohan instinctively reached out his hand.

BOOM!

Another thunderbolt struck, and in that instant, a glowing hand filled with shimmering light cupped both his cheek and ear. Lee Hyunmook flinched and turned to look at him. His firm brows twitched slightly. The light drifting from Yohan’s body grew even brighter, like a mist.

The sparkling light, like the Milky Way, seeped into Lee Hyunmook’s eyes and ears. The gray ashes scattered from the charred tree disintegrated and faded near them. The violent lightning subsided.

“I thought it might be too loud for you too, Mr. Hyunmook…”

Yohan mumbled awkwardly as he withdrew his hand, unable to withstand the gaze fixed silently on him. Worried he might have overstepped and angered him, Yohan glanced up, but Lee Hyunmook’s expression had softened. He looked calm. Yohan breathed a small sigh of relief.

“Thank you.”

Instead of scolding, he offered his thanks. As Yohan watched Lee Hyunmook’s back walking toward his spear, a small smile crept to his lips.

The lightning strike had been so powerful that the tree monster no longer had a recognizable form. With the fire on top of that, the air was thick with acrid smoke. Lee Hyunmook casually stepped through the remains and retrieved his searing-hot spear.

Yohan brushed the ashes off Lee Hyunmook’s clothes with his glowing hands, eyes full of curiosity.

The spear he’d only seen in photos and videos was now right there in Lee Hyunmook’s hands, long, heavy, and sharp. But likely due to being abandoned for so long, it was stained with blotchy black marks. Or rather, it looked like it had been.

‘Huh? I could’ve sworn there were stains right here just now.’

Did I purify them without realizing? Yohan tilted his head in confusion as Lee Hyunmook lightly swung the spear.

“As expected, nothing beats a familiar weapon. Got myself a good lightning rod again.”

A weapon that other awakeners would desperately covet, Hyunmook casually called it a lightning rod. And in truth, he often used it for that exact purpose.

Yohan asked, excitement in his voice, “Can I hold it just once?”

With surprising generosity, Lee Hyunmook handed over the weapon. When Yohan took it, it felt incredibly heavy and still warm from the recent lightning strike, almost alive. Though impressed, he didn’t dare swing it and returned it carefully.

“It’s such an honor to even hold this spear…”

“Is it really that much of an honor? I think even this thing would be pleased.”

Lee Hyunmook responded with a slight laugh, but Yohan was sincere. If they were back in Korea, Lee Hyunmook might not even know he existed.

“If there’s one good thing about ending up here, it’s that I got to meet you, Mr. Hyunmook.”

Lee Hyunmook didn’t answer right away. Embarrassed, Yohan scratched the back of his neck and looked around, when Lee Hyunmook suddenly called his name softly.

“Yohan.”

The voice was so gentle that Yohan’s heart leapt and dropped all at once.

“You probably have no idea how happy I am to have met you in this awful place.”

The depth and weight of emotion in Lee Hyunmook’s eyes as he looked at him took Yohan’s breath away. As Yohan stood frozen, Hyunmook gave his stiff shoulder a pat.

“Let’s go rest now.”

***

It’s just admiration. That’s all it is.
Yohan thought as he woke from a restless sleep.

He sat blankly, repeatedly thinking about the man nearby, tugging at his own hair in frustration.

This is crazy… But still, this had to be admiration.

Even if they were both high-level awakeners now, Yohan felt the gap between them was like heaven and earth. His purification ability was incredible, sure, but there was no way someone like him was on the same level as Lee Hyunmook.

Of course, he would feel this way, it was Lee Hyunmook, his savior. It made perfect sense. Having reached a conclusion, Yohan stood up.

The sheet he had just risen from felt fluffy and fresh, as if it had just been washed. Apparently, even in sleep, his power had been flowing, because the dusty old bed was spotless now.

He thought he’d switch places with Lee Hyunmook to purify that bed next. He felt like a living, breathing air purifier…

“Did you sleep well?”

Yohan greeted as he opened the bedroom door.

Lee Hyunmook, who was tending to his spear, replied,

“Yeah. You too, Yohan?”

“Yes! I slept great!”

Cheerfully answering, Yohan began preparing breakfast. Cooking was entirely his responsibility, and there was a good reason. In this place, ingredients often spoiled within a few days, so Yohan had to purify them by hand to make the food tolerable.

Today’s menu: spicy gochujang pork and rice.

After a delicious meal, they even indulged in a luxurious dessert, canned yellow peaches, to celebrate recovering the weapon.

As he casually scooped his portion of peaches back into Yohan’s bowl, Lee Hyunmook spoke.

“I thought about it after yesterday. I think I’ll bring a teammate in.”

He said it as casually as someone mentioning a grocery run, so Yohan didn’t immediately understand. Then the peach he was holding fell from his mouth.

“Wait, hold on. How are you going to find a teammate here? Based on how often new land and people appear in the Abyss, statistically, it’ll be another two or three months before anyone new shows up. And there’s no guarantee they’ll even be alive, let alone able to find them and rescue them in time…”

“Hmm…”

Lee Hyunmook gave a sheepish little smile. And just then, a thought flashed through Yohan’s mind.

“Wait… are you saying… one of your team members is still alive in here?”

“More or less. We… parted ways over some pretty big differences.”

“They’re alive?!”

The shocking confirmation left Yohan stunned.

Why hadn’t he asked about Lee Hyunmook’s missing teammates before? Because he had been certain they were all dead. He hadn’t wanted to poke at old wounds.

But they were alive?!

“That’s definitely something to be shocked about, right?”

“Shocked is an understatement!”

While Yohan was reeling, Lee Hyunmook absentmindedly nibbled on another peach slice and shoved the rest back at him.

Yohan couldn’t make sense of it. He could understand not mentioning it before his own awakening. Given how corrupted Lee Hyunmook had been, there was no way the others would be in a good state.

But it had already been a week since Yohan awakened. And the Sunrise Team was known for having especially strong bonds.

“Then we should go find them right away. I can purify them now!”

“Is it really worth going through all that trouble and danger…?”

Lee Hyunmook replied in the driest tone imaginable.

It was hard to believe this kind, gentle person could talk that way about people he’d spent years working with.

“But after what happened yesterday, I realized, I need someone who can protect you during fights. You know how my ability works. Anyone nearby has a high risk of getting hit by stray attacks. I can make mistakes too. I can’t keep you too close, but I also can’t leave you far away. It’s a problem.”

Yohan understood what he meant.

Lee Hyunmook was the exception for being a solo fighter. Most awakeners with fire or lightning abilities operated alone because of the danger to allies.

There were even videos of Lee Hyunmook accidentally hitting his own team members mid-fight, causing them to scream and run or get hurt. Still, none had ever been fatally injured.

Yohan, at a loss for words, took a moment to think.

Right. There had to be a reason he hadn’t brought it up before. It would be rude to judge someone so harshly without knowing the full story.

“He said there were big disagreements…”

That could mean they fought to the point of no return.

If Yohan had ended up in the Abyss with Park Seungmin, they’d probably be mortal enemies by now too. And everyone here was deeply corrupted. It was a place full of reasons to clash.

Yohan asked cautiously, “So… who are you planning to bring back?”

“There’s one guy nearby. Haven’t seen him in… what, thirty years? Not sure what kind of state he’ll be in. Communication was always tough with him.”

“Wait, thirty years?!”

Yohan’s eyes widened in disbelief. Lee Hyunmook blinked once, then smiled.

“Too much of an old man joke, huh?”

“Ah, ahh! So it’s more like three months ago, right.”

It must’ve been one of those jokes older guys make, inflating a thousand won into a million just for fun. The fact that Lee Hyunmook even made that kind of joke made Yohan chuckle.

“I think there were six team members total…”

The Sunrise Team had six members: Lee Hyunmook as the leader, followed by Go Jaewon, Lee Chanha, Seo Yakrin, Yoon Seungryong, and Ju Hoyoung.

Excluding Go Jaewon, who had luckily escaped, the other five were dragged into the Abyss and presumed missing. The team was effectively considered disbanded.

“Who’s the one nearby?”

“Yoon Seungryong. Lazy guy with a huge appetite.”